SEA BRIGHT — The state is considering buying a Sea Bright condominium complex wrecked by Hurricane Sandy to provide more parking for beachgoers in a town that was sued over its lack of public access to the shoreline.

State Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said he is interested in an idea floated by Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long about purchasing the Anchorage on Ocean Avenue, razing the building and turning the property into parking for the municipal beach across the street.

Martin said he’s waiting for a more formal proposal from the town before deciding whether to proceed.

“It’s something we’ll consider once there’s been a more concrete proposal,” said Larry Ragonese, a DEP spokesman. “It’s not something that’s culminated yet.”

In the meantime, the DEP’s Green Acres Program sent a letter last week to the borough asking if there are any environmental issue with the property, Long said.

“They’re evaluating it as a potential Green Acres property,” she said.

The Russo Group of Shrewsbury, which owns the complex, did not return repeated calls for comment. But Sea Bright administrator Joseph Verruni said Monmouth County officials considered buying that property a few months ago as part of a project to relocate the Rumson Bridge, which is just south of the complex.

After Sandy, the county held informal talks with the Russo Group but ultimately decided to acquire the Dunkin’ Donuts and an abandoned gas station just south of the bridge for the project, said Laura Kirkpatrick, a county spokeswoman.

For now, the Anchorage is surrounded by a chain link fence.

Composed primarily of a string of private beach clubs, Sea Bright’s two miles of oceanfront has been largely inaccessible to the general public, who instead are relegated to a small municipal beach.

Sea Bright, on a peninsula bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Shrewsbury River, becomes the fallback destination for beachgoers shut out of Sandy Hook just to the north on busy days. But the closest Sea Bright beaches aren’t accessible because there’s no parking. A couple of public access points are peppered in the 1 1/2 mile stretch between Sandy Hook and Sea Bright’s municipal beach, but they’re not easy to find – and neither is parking. That makes those beaches virtually private for the residents across the street, beach access advocates have complained.

The state owns – and Sea Bright manages – the public beach across from the Anchorage but the lot there is small and beachgoers have said they’re shut out on busy days.

Long said she’s pleased to hear the DEP is considering the idea.

She said the town would lose potentially $45,000 in taxes that a newly built apartment building would contribute to the municipal coffers, but she considers improving beach access to be more important.

“Even though it’s a highly valuable ratable for us … my personal feeling is it doesn’t make sense to rebuild on environmentally sensitive areas,” Long said, noting the apartment building is situated on the narrowest part of the peninsula.

She said state acquisition of that property would also provide public access to the river.

Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, which has advocated for public access, said he likes the proposal and hopes it will spur access to the northern and southern sections of town that are the most inaccessible.

The DEP in 2006 sued Sea Bright and the nine beach clubs there at the time over beach access. In the suit, the state accused Sea Bright of reneging on an agreement to improve public access after a 2003 beach replenishment project. It also claimed the clubs could not keep the public off the beaches in front of their buildings because public money was used to refurbish those beaches.

In 2010 settlements and a court order, the clubs allowed the public on the lower portion of the beaches.